Nuci's Space celebrating its 10th with music, of course

It’s hard to believe Nuci's Space is 10 years old by looking around the place.

The rehearsal rooms have new sound-reducing panels. The line of rental guitars looks brand new. There is fresh paint on the walls.

But so much has gone on inside those walls during the past decade. Even the family of Nuçi Phillips, an Athens musician who committed suicide in 1996 after battling depression, couldn’t have thought their vision of a place where musicians could get help would grow so much.

Nuci's has helped more than 750 musicians get counseling for physical or mental health issues. The operating budget has grown from $30,000 to nearly $500,000. A growing number of children learn music and life lessons during the summer and afternoons.

Now there are cities across America that want to follow the Nuci's model.

That model is pretty simple, said Bob Sleppy, the only executive director Nuci's has ever had.

“This place works because everyone who walks through the door, we treat them like a friend,” he said. “You have someone that is coming here for counseling and asking for help — that person is not just a number.

“They’re your friend, and you want the best for them.”

The well-being of musicians continues to be the greatest focus of Nuci's. Musicians can walk in, have a talk with Counseling Advocate Will Kiser and get the professional help they need.

“We have really good relationships with the therapists that we work with,” Kiser said. “We get them with the right person. Success revolves around the relationship with the patient and the therapist.”

Like most of the programs Nuci's offers, more and more musicians receive counseling every year.

It took awhile for Nuci's to build its reputation, Sleppy said. Starting out fresh in 2000, no one was sure the concept would work.

All Sleppy knew is that he needed to be a part of it.

“I was looking for that something to wake up to and look forward to every day,” he said. “And the Phillipses (who lived in Atlanta) needed someone who was in Athens and could organize things.”

Sleppy didn’t have any experience with nonprofits, but he was a musician — just like Nuçi. He knew the scene well, and the relationships he had proved vital in getting the programs rolling those first full years.

“We had to prove that we were here to stay and not a fly-by-night thing,” Sleppy said. “It helped that Nuçi was a part of that community. A lot of people wanted to help.”

That hasn’t changed since the beginning, Sleppy said. Almost every Athens musician has donated either time or money to advancing Nuci's programs.

Those programs will keep advancing, Sleppy said.

“The way we’ve always grown is by looking at the needs of the community,” he said. “That’s how new programs come together. If there’s a need, we try to find a way to facilitate it.”

In addition to counseling, Nuci's assists musicians with everything from health care and support groups to renting out equipment and rehearsal space on the cheap.

Children’s programs like Camp Amped started in 2007 with just a few kids and now have full rosters.

“We really struggled our first year, but after the parents saw what we were doing, the programs really exploded,” said Laura Ford, who organizes Camp Amped and the after-school programs. “We teach them so much more than rock ’n’ roll. They learn music, but they also learn some big life lessons.”

These kids will be the heart of the Athens scene in 10 years, Ford points out.